Key skills
Authentication systemsAuthorization systemsOIDCOAuthSAMLSCIMJWTSSOService-to-service authenticationSecure communication patternsSoftware architectureSystem designScalabilityPerformance optimizationReliability engineeringSecurity engineeringKeycloakRole-based Access ControlAttribute-based Access ControlGoJavaRubyFastlyMentoringCommunicationCollaboration
About this role
Fastly is an edge cloud platform that enables customers to create great digital experiences quickly and securely. They are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead the development of innovative solutions for managing user identities and access control, while collaborating with various teams to enhance security and reliability.
Responsibilities:
- Lead the technical direction, architecture, and evolution of Fastly’s CIAM systems and services
- Design and build secure, scalable solutions for authentication, authorization, identity lifecycle, and related platform capabilities
- Partner with engineering, product, and security teams to define roadmaps, align priorities, and address technical risks early
- Drive adoption of modern, standards-based identity patterns and best practices across teams and systems
- Improve the reliability, security, and maintainability of identity-related services through strong architectural decisions and operational rigor
- Mentor engineers across the organization, helping raise the quality of technical design, implementation, and collaboration
- Contribute to an inclusive engineering culture grounded in curiosity, pragmatism, and continuous improvement
- Participate in on-call support rotation as needed
Requirements:
- Significant experience designing and operating authentication and authorization systems in production environments. Most Principals at Fastly have at least 10 years of related experience
- Deep understanding of identity and access standards and technologies such as OIDC, OAuth, SAML, SCIM, JWT, and SSO
- Experience with service-to-service authentication and secure communication patterns in distributed systems
- Strong background in software architecture and system design, especially in areas of scalability, performance, reliability, and security
- Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical initiatives across multiple teams and influence engineering direction at senior levels
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce clear technical documentation and align diverse stakeholders
- Track record of mentoring and growing other engineers, both within your domain of expertise and more broadly across engineering
- Experience with Keycloak
- Production experience implementing Role and Attribute-based Access control systems
- Experience with Go, Java, or Ruby